Mug shot: Amber Telford
SALT LAKE CITY — Unified Police arrested a former Utah Jazz dancer accused of having sex with a 17-year-old student.
According to a probable cause statement, Amber Telford, 33, told police she and the victim had sex on seven occasions.
Telford is a dance teacher and the owner of Colette’s Dancing School, where she gave dance instruction to the victim. According to police, Telford groomed the victim by buying him clothing and other personal items.
Telford also paid for the victim to attend a dance competition at Disneyland, the statement said, but other dance students had to pay for the trip themselves.
Police said Telford engaged in sexual activities with the victim at her home, her mother’s home and in her vehicle between September and December of 2014.
According to the probable cause statement, Telford’s husband hired a private investigator agency. On November 28, a private investigator posing as a strip mall security guard found Telford and the victim in a “dark tumbling room” inside her studio, the statement said.
Both Telford and the victim were naked and under a blanket, the probable cause statement said, and Telford tried to hide under the blanket when caught.
Telford faces seven third-degree felony counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor. She was arrested at Bennion Elementary School and booked into the Salt Lake County Metro Jail.
According to her Facebook page, Telford was formerly a Nu Skin Jazz Dancer for the Utah Jazz.
